Saturday, May 29, 2010

No Sucky Thumby

When Briar was 4 months old she discovered her thumb...and she was hooked! 
at the beach...
on Gramma's lap...
at Anderson's...with big sister...
As the years of thumbsucking {i.e. ingesting the germs from everything she touches and likewise placing her own germs on everything she touches} passed... my appreciation for pacifiers grew and I realized how much easier it was to throw a pacifier in the dumpster than a child's thumb...Eden and Truman both used pacifiers.
in the car...
with Mama...

So when she was almost 4 years old we started talking about quitting and decided that 4 was much to old to be sucking one's thumb. And, she agreed that on her fourth birthday she would indeed quit sucking her thumb...but no sooner!
So we had Eden make a "No Sucky Thumby" chart and we got stickers--which she received one for each 24 hours that passed with no thumsucking. If she could successfully NOT suck her thumb for seven consecutive days she would then get a prize...and so on and so forth every seven days.




...and no, she doesn't get a prize every week for the rest of her life, it sorta just fizzled after about the 4th week.  And that was that! Yay Briar!

Friday, May 21, 2010

Monday, May 10, 2010

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Briar is Four!

Right before Briar's birthday, I asked her what kind of cake she wants. And she replied in her sweet little voice, "strawberry cake". So I thought about it...does she mean strawberry shortcake? or strawberry flavored cake? or cake with strawberries on top? I honestly don't think even SHE knew exactly what she meant. It's really not that complicated, Mom. I want strawberry cake.
So she helped me make...strawberry cake cupcakes...with pink cream cheese frosting...


...and heart shaped strawberries on top.
We even made enough so she could bring one for each of her friends at her Cubbies' class {Wednesday evening at church}



Monday, April 5, 2010

Easter 2010









This Easter was extra special because we got to be with my side of the family for the first time in 13 years!!! When Q became associate pastor of our church in 1998, it made it a lot trickier to go down to Wisconsin for the weekend.  We always had to be back for church on Sunday. Well, Easter Sunday being pretty much the biggest Sunday of the year, meant we would be in Minnesota...at church...for all three services!!!  It just seemed natural that we would spend every Easter with Q's family...in Minnesota and every Thanksgiving with mine...in Wisconsin.  After all, Thanksgiving is on Thursday so that gave us plenty of time to get back before Sunday.  But this post isn't about Thanksgiving it is about Easter!  Well, needless to say it wasn't any easier to get to Wisconsin for Easter when we lived in Ukraine, Pennsylvania, or Poland ...and, so passed the years!  Until TWENTY-TEN when at last, we were so happy to be in Minnesota with our beloved church family-- for the first service, bright and early, and afterwards just enough time to drive down to Sun Prairie [3 hrs. and 45 mins] to be with my family for Easter dinner!  I could barely contain myself.



All the cousins on the Blaser side
My mom made this little game for the grandkids. These papers are in the eggs with the candy and whoever gets the one that says "Risen" or spells the word "Risen" with the other Easter- related words and phrases wins...


...and then all the kids pick a prize from the basket


My sister, Brook, and me

Briar with Great Grandpa Blaser

Friday, March 26, 2010

Skateville

 
Every second Wednesday of the month {during the school year} there's a special time for homeschoolers to go rollerskating at Skateville in Burnsville. They play all Christian music. We never miss it! The kids and I LOVE it!!! We always meet my siter-in-law and her four kids at Pizza Hut first for lunch to use our "book-it" Pizza Hut coupons...then it's off to rollerblade that's SKATE for me...I'm a child of the 80's-- I'm a little 'old school' when it comes to skating but I LOVE IT! For sure I have as much {or more} fun than the kids. I even choreographed a couple of our favorite songs and the kids and their cousins skate behind me and copy everything I do.  By the end of the school year we had "Dare You to Move", by Switchfoot, PERFECTED!


Even Briar tried a few times...she had lots of helpers!
By the way...it's really hard to get good pictures of people rollerskating.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

House Hunting

GOT ONE!


Closing date is May 24th. We are so excited!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Birthday Girls



when we became friends in 1998 it didn't take long to realize WE HAVE THE SAME BIRTHDAY! February 18th exactly 10 years apart but you'd never guess it we both still look like we are in our 20's...right? okay well maybe that's a stretch but we've enjoyed celebrating "our birthday" over the years. Although, sadly we missed 6 birthdays while Q and I were living all over the world...but I guess it just made this one back together again that much sweeter.
Q and Joel surprised Sue and me with a very special evening and dinner out at Ruth's Chris Steak House. The food was AMAZING but the time with friends was the best part of all.
 

Monday, February 1, 2010

Shark Parts



The kids got to dissect a shark with Josh!  It was very interesting...smells included...to say the least!